Cry No More
by LunarArtemis
Summary: Lily can't get Harry to calm down late one night and James is not there to help her because he's away on an Auror mission. Will she get Harry to calm down? Will James come home in time? What's wrong with Harry? L/J Post-Hogwarts ONE-SHOT


Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter….yeah I wish.

So this is just a little one-shot I had to write out. I know I've completely neglected Our Tower, but since I've hit a writer's block with that, I'm just working on shorter fics and other ideas for now. I've never done anything with Lily, James and Harry only but I love little fics like that so I thought I'd try my hand at writing one. I hope you like it.

Cry No More

Lily was ready to pull her hair out. She paced the floor for the millionth time and her arms felt like lead. Her head ached and she was near tears herself.

"Oh, Harry. Please, stop crying." She begged her 3 month old son. Red faced, her son cried on her shoulder, fists tangling in his mother's hair. She couldn't figure out what was wrong with him. She'd changed him, walked him, tried to feed him, played with him…now she felt like she'd walked a thousand miles. Her own face was flushed, though not yet as red as her son's.

"Of all days to be gone, James, why tonight?" she asked, looking at the family photograph of the three of them hanging above the fireplace. The picture was of Lily sitting on an arm chair cradling a newborn Harry while James gazed lovingly down at his family, sitting against the arm rest of the chair his life was in. As Lily stared at the picture, she rocked Harry, making noises to try and calm him down.

Of course, her husband was away on an Auror mission and was three days late getting back. She worried, of course, but she knew he was still alive. Sirius was with him and the two of them would back each other up with their lives. Lily knew nothing would happen. James would come home to her.

'Why can't you be here now?' she begged, feeling a few tears sliding down her face. She kissed her baby's head and tried to cuddle him, but her baby just moved his face away. Heartbroken at the agonized look on Harry's face, a look no mother ever wanted her child to have, she decided to see if James' mother would be able to help. She knew it was 11 o' clock at night, but she was desperate and she had no one else to turn to.

Finally, she tried to set Harry down, only to discover that he refused to be let down. The proof was in the way he refused to let his tangled grip on her hair go. Helpless, Lily took him with her to the fireplace and threw some floo powder in, calling on her mother-in-law.

"Mum!" she cried out desperately. Her mother-in-law, Willow Potter, answered soon enough.

"Lily, dear?" a kind voice said and Lily finally saw her mother-in-law's face. "Merlin's beard, darling, it's 11 at night. What on Earth is Harry still doing up?" she asked concerned, as she saw her grandchild screaming in his mother's arms.

Lily nearly broke down in tears. "I don't know. He's never cried like this before. Nothing I do will help." She admitted. "I tried to feed him, change him…everything." She ended helplessly.

"Alright, Lily. Don't cry. I'll brew up a potion that should calm him down for the night. I'll have Leti bring it over." She said. Mrs. Willow Potter was a healer, but still, just like any mother, Lily wanted to be sure...

"It won't hurt him?" she sniffed, kissing her baby's head and patting his back as he cried.

"No, my dear. It will just help him get through the night. I'll only be a moment and if he doesn't calm down, let me know and I'll come and check him over." She promised. Lily accepted that and nodded.

"Okay," she said, taking a deep breath. "Thanks, Mum." The older woman smiled softly and blew her daughter-in-law and grandson a kiss.

"Of course. You must be so tired…And with James not here right now…You call me whenever you need. Leti will be over as soon as I have the potion ready."

Lily sighed and stood from her kneeling position at the fireplace, still cradling Harry against her shoulder.

"Oh Harry, do you miss him too?" she asked as a small wet fist reached out for a picture frame on the mantle with a wonderful shot of the baby's father. Her arms were sore and she gently shifted the majority of Harry's weight to her other arm, supporting him with the one that felt like rubber now. Although he was only 3 months old, Harry was a beautiful chubby baby weighing in at 16 pounds. For his height, it was plenty and it was as Lily and James wanted for him, but walking all night with him in her arms wasn't easy.

Harry made one of the noises he'd been making recently-his attempt at speaking English-at Lily gave a laughing sob. She pressed her cheek to his and felt the heat of his tears against her cheek. Pulling back slightly, she grabbed a tissue and gently wiped his face with it, not that he made her job easy when he kept pushing her hands away.

His denial made her wince-because his hands were still tangled in her hair. "Ouch, Harry. Please, that hurts Mummy." She begged, trying to calm him with rubbing circles on his back. His stuffed snitch caught her eye and she waved her wand and made it zoom across the room, hoping it would make him laugh like it usually did.

It caught his eye for a moment and he calmed enough to watch it for a few minutes, but then it lost its novelty and, once again, Harry started crying full out. Her heart cried out for some reprieve because she couldn't stand to see her son, the life that she and James created together, in such a helpless state.

Her bare shoulders were wet from his tears and his saliva as he drooled on her but she paid them no mind. Finally, after what seemed like hours, but was only 35 minutes after she spoke to her mother-in-law, the Potters' loyal house-elf, Leti, popped into her living room. Lily had never been so excited to see the little elf.

"Leti!" Lily cried out in relief. The house elf waddled over to Lily and held up the little vial of potion for Harry.

"Mistress Willow asks for Leti to bring Mistress Lily and Master Harry this potion, so Leti does. Mistress Willow tells Leti to tell Mistress Lily that Master Harry is to take all of the potion so Master Harry can feel better." Leti said, eager to help her family.

Lily bent down slightly to get the vial from Leti's outstretched hand.

"Thank you, Leti." She said, relief evident in her voice. Lily looked at the vial and then to the baby she was barely able to hold in her arms anymore-whom she held only through sheer determination.

Leti snapped her fingers, noticing her Mistress's distress and immediately the vial turned into a tiny bottle for which the potion was in. Quickly, she fed the potion to Harry, who coughed and sputtered and cried even harder at the potion his mother forced him to drink. Although he spit out some of it, which Leti immediately cleaned up, he swallowed most of it, so Lily thanked Leti as the house elf popped away and sighed, hoping the potion would take effect soon.

Lily's arms cried for relief and Harry still cried, although it wasn't the full out screaming anymore. She knew he must be tired. She continued to walk, not being allowed any reprieve to sit down because every time she did, Harry squirmed and fussed even more in her arms and refused to be put down.

The clock struck midnight and the tears fell down her eyes as well. It was like a trigger: At the sight of his mother's tears, Harry began to cry even more, one of his fists reaching out towards the mantle. Lily couldn't see though…All she could tell was that Harry was yanking her hair out of her head.

Then, without warning, at exactly 12:17, not that she had checked, the front door opened and slammed shut. Lily was instantly spinning on her heels and grabbing for her wand, Harry held protectively against her. Obviously she wasn't thinking properly. Their house was protected by strong spells and enchantments, which was only strengthened when James was away…The only one who could get past it was…

"LILY!" the deep masculine voice resounded through the house. Lily let out a sob of relief and dropped her wand. She immediately headed towards the front door where the silhouette of the man she'd missed so much in the past two weeks stood, taking off his coat.

Lily threw herself in his arms before he had a chance to say anymore, sobbing silently, their son held in her arms still, now up against James' chest.

~~~~~~~2 minutes before

It had been the longest two weeks of his life and James was glad to be home. He looked forward to going in to see Harry sleeping in his crib, kiss him good night, shower and then join his beautiful wife in their bed and kiss her before falling asleep. As he apparated to his front yard, he frowned as he saw the lights through the windows on the first floor. That wasn't right. The lights should have been off by now and his family should have been in bed. His senses on high alert, James quickly got through his self-imposed protection enchantments and let himself into his house.

When he entered, he had not expected to hear his son's wails from the other room at top volume and his heart raced. What happened? Why was Harry crying like that? His heart nearly stopped in his chest and he called his wife's name in earnest.

"LILY!" he called out, taking off his cloak but letting it fall to the ground as Lily came into sight. His heart beat slowed down as he saw her unhurt, but with a hysterical Harry in her arms. Before he could get another word in, she was in his arms with their son between them. He could feel her tears and his son's tears soaking his shirt, but he enveloped both of them in his strong arms and held fast.

~~~~~~ Back to the present

"Lily, my love, what's wrong? What happened to Harry?" James said, rubbing her arms. He felt the shaking and quickly took the brunt of Harry's weight from her. Supporting his crying son with one arm around the plump little waist, James, with Lily's help, untangled Harry's hands from his mother's hair. Lily sniffled and wiped at her tears as the weight that she had carried for the past one and a half hours was finally taken from her.

"I don't know. I tried everything to calm him down. He wouldn't sleep, eat, play…I tried his snitch, I tried singing…" she cried into James shoulder. James kissed her head and squeezed her comfortingly before he turned his attention to his son. Holding Harry in two arms so he could examine him, James supported his son with his strong forearms as he walked to the rocking chair, talking in his deep voice in his son's ear.

Lily fell onto the couch adjacent from the rocking chair and watched the two most important men in her life.

"Did you call a Healer?" James asked. Lily nodded.

"I called Mum and she sent Leti with a potion for him." Lily admitted. "It should help Harry get through the night and if he was still having trouble to call her. But it's been some time since he took the potion and I don't know what to do anymore." Lily sniffled. She hugged her bare arms and curled into a ball.

"Don't cry anymore, Harry. We're right here." James whispered to his son reassuringly. A few minutes passed and slowly but surely, Harry's sobs decreased to mere hiccups and his head fell heavy on his father's broad shoulder. Feeling the change in his son, James continued to rub his son's back and whispered to his wife.

"It looks like Mum's potion is working." He whispered as he noticed Harry's eyes were closed and his breathing was evening out. Lily nodded in agreement, exhausted. Her arms were aching and her body was exhausted.

James looked at his wife, greedy for the sight of her. She had bloodshot and puffy eyes, a slightly flushed face, baby drool on her shoulders and exhaustion in her body language and to him, she looked beautiful. Standing up, he cradled his son and bent over to kiss his wife's lips briefly.

"I'll be right back. I'll change him and put him down for the night." He whispered. Lily nodded and kissed the back of her baby's head.

"Mummy loves you, Harry." She whispered. James straightened up to his full height then and went upstairs to change Harry's diaper, clothes and put him to bed in the room across from the one he shared with Lily.

When James came back, he found Lily nearly asleep on the couch. He smiled softly and walked over to the love of his life, lifting her easily in his arms.

"Come on, baby. Let's go to bed." He said softly. Lily woke up a little and curled into his warm body, comforted by his nearness. She sniffled once, then twice.

"I felt like such a failure." She admitted. "I didn't know how to help him." She said against his chest, exhaustion slurring her words slightly.

James didn't slow his pace as he climbed up the stairs but he lifted his wife higher to kiss her lips briefly.

"No, Lily. Never. You did what you could for Harry and it was enough. You got help from Mum. No one ever knows exactly what to expect or do. You did the right thing, calling Mum. We'll take Harry to see Mum in the morning to make sure everything's alright. Just rest for now." He said, placing her in their bed and pulling the covers over her.

She fell asleep almost immediately. He stared at her for a moment before going to the bathroom and jumping into the shower. Lily had already been in her night wear. James toweled off and put on some fresh boxers before he brushed his teeth. Tired and his heart aching to have his wife in his arms while he slept, he went back to the bedroom and climbed under the covers with his wife, taking his glasses off and putting them on his nightstand.

Immediately, Lily turned and curled into his warm body and he sighed, banding his arms around her.

"I love you, Lily." He whispered, kissing her lips softly. She aroused enough to kiss him back.

"I love you too." She said against his lips. She was asleep as soon as his lips left hers.

So that's the end of it! I hope you liked it. Reviews are greatly appreciated. I'd love some feedback. Please no flames. This was partially based on a true story. I was walking my nephew for about an hour before his dad came. By then my nephew had fallen asleep though ^^; Anyways, if you have an idea or a story request you want me to write, I'll gladly accept prompts and try to write something for it!

Love always,

LunarArtemis


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